Solvent recovery system



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INVEN TOR.

Carl 6. Georgian United States Patent 2,886,610- SOLVENT RECOVERY SYSTEM cm C. Georgian, La Marque, Tex., assignor to The American Oil Company This invention relates to solvent extraction of hydrocarbon mixtures and. particularly to therecovery of the: solvent from the extract phase. More particularly-,the invention relates; to therecovery of solvent from-the extract hydrocarbonsin a. process wherein the extract hydrocarbons are distilled away from the solvent. 2O

Hydrocarbons occur naturally as mixtures of- Various classes, namely, paraffinic, olefinic, naphthenic'and aromatic; usually appreciable amounts of compounds con'-- taining oxygen and/ or sulfur are present. These mixtures may be separatedinto more or less pure classes by means 5 of liquid glycol solvents.- For economic reasons processes using liquid glycol solvents separate the extract hydrocarbons from the solvent by distillation. This dis-' tillation may be vacuum, steam, atmospheric pressure,--or super atmospheric pressure.

When operating according to conventional distillation procedure, in all'cases appreciable amounts of glycol-solvent appear in the extract hydrocarbons even though the distillation operation is carried out at temperatures well" below the boiling point of the glycol so1vent.- When operatingwith aromatic hydrocarbons in the extract phase,.considerable amounts of the glycol solvent appear in..the. aromatic hydrocarbonstaken overhead in-the -dis-- tillativerecovery procedure. Conventional practice separates the glycols from the product extract'hydrocarbons bytaking advantage-ofthelow' solubilityof glycols and hydrocarbons at ordinary atmospheric temperatures. Thus, the extract hydrocarbon-glycol vapor-mixture.- is condensed in a heat exchanger and passed to a separator wherein substantially all of the glycol separates by -gravity. and may be'withdrawn from the'separator as a sepa-' rate'phase. The dissolved glycol is then recovered-from the-extract hydrocarbons by washing the mixture withwater; Theglycols readily pass into the water phase and maybe recovered from the, water phase bydistillationb It isiobviousthat this'procedure'forthe secondary recov- I cry of glycol solvent is expensive.

An object of this invention is the separation ofhydIQCaI'bOII mixtures bytreatment--with-a liquid glyc'ol solventz Another object is the recovery of glycol solvent from the extract phase -formed 'in the treatment ofthe hydrocarbommixture with liquid -glyc olsolvent. f- 'A par-- ticnlar objectis the-recovery of glycol 'solvent from an extract phase byi'distilli'ng a-waythe extract hydrocarbons; leaving glycolsolventas-abottoms product. The preferred objectofthe inventionis the-secondary'recovery of I glycol from' the .vapo'rphasemixture of extract' hydrocarbons and glycol derived by distillation of an extract" phasegconsistingessentially .of liquid glycol solventand extract hydrocarbons: Other objects :will -become ap-.-- parent in the course of "the detailed description.

Essentially complete recovery of the-g1ycol-solventwis obtained; in the hydrocarbon' separation-process wherein a liquid gglycolisolyent" and a liquidhydrocarbon-feed, which contains: compoundsfof differing miscibility in saidsolvent, are=contactedunder conditions to form separate-- rafiinate and extract phases and wherein the hydrocar- .886.610 Mai; 1 .5 1 5? bon compounds dissolved insaidext ract phase are "re? covered by distillation,'under"conditions'where the' so} vent is a liquid bottoms product" and 'where ap reciable amounts of solvent distill "withthe extract h drocarbons: when a liquid aqueous stream is'introduce'd into said distillation zone, at a point above the point oi entry of said' extract phase, in an amount' s'ulficient to" re1'iloiie: essentially all of the solvent fromthe' m'ixturei'of solve t vapors and extract hydrocarbon vapors, condensing the vapor stream'leaving said distillation" zone "and 'sepa'rat ing liquid water phase from an extract hydro'ca'rboh? phase, which phases are essentially free" of solve; I Usually the amount of aqueous liquid int'ro'duced'into the upper'point ofthedis'tillative recovery zone'isffbe-f tween about Sand' 200 volume percentof the'extrac't' hydrocarbons present in the extract phase;

The feed to the process ofthis'inve'ntion consistsbf a mixture of hydrocarbons from 'at'least two 'ofthebro ad" classes, paraffinic, naphthenic, 'olefinic and aromatic, such as naturally occur inp'etroleuni or'the"productsfrofii" hydrocarbon conversion processes? A pre'fe'rredfe'ed consists of petroleum naphthas containing larg'ampun't's of'aromatic hydrocarbons,-ve.g., catalytically" rack d" naphthas and the naphtha boilingirange materialtrom" catalytic reforming in the presence 'of"hydrogen;" Ex amples ofthese stocks arehydroforrnateand platformatei The process is also-applicable to the separation 'of' olefins and diolefins as in the 'separation'of'butadiene from"ad-'" mixture with butanes and butenes or to theseparatiori bf" styrenes from ethylbenzene an'd xylenes." In"general;"the" process is applicable to any feed-wliich is suscep'tibleto separationby treatment with aglycol solvent; wherein the extract hydrocarbons boil belowtheglycol'solventf The selective solvents 'utilized'inthis"process"'are' broadly known as glycols, i.e.,'the dihydric"alcohols."- Particularlydesirable solvents are the polyglycolsfiif polymeric glycols containing ether linkages." ThehalO gen and the" ether derivatives of glycols are"alsosuit able solvents for this process. Particular examples oftlie solvents areethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, 'triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol,- propylene glycol, dipropylem glycol, ethylene. glycolmonomethyl-ether, ethylene gycol' diethy ether,-propyleneglycol monoethyl-eth'eri Thepre ferred solvents are the polyethylene-glycols,particularly diethylenc glycol and triethylene glycol."

The solvent power of these glycols' improves'at"'ele-* vated temperatures. Therefore, normallya'selective'soh vent extraction process using glycol solvent op'e'rates" at temperatures between'about F. and the incipient" thermal decomposition temperature of the particular gly-" col.= More usually the contacting 'zoneis'maihtained"at atemperature between about -200'and "350 F. Itis be understood that'certain of the'polyglycol's"aresolid's at ordinary temperatures and the temperature maintained in the process must-be atleasthigh-en'oughtomaintaiifi theseparticular glycolsin theliquidstate: Furthermore, this glycol extractionprocess'is'a liquid-liquid ope'rati'ori and sufiicient pressure 'must be maintained 'on' the' sys' tem' to keep the solvent, the-feedand'the'hydrocarliof oilin the liquid-state.

The=annexed drawing which is made a partbfthisf' specification shows an illustrative embodiment of"the"" process of this P invention. It is to be 'unders toodfthat many items "of equipment'and 'details'of operation"are omitted-where these can" be readily supplied by"those" skilled in this art.

Inthe drawing 'the' feed is a' hydrofor'ma'te" 'riaphtha obtained---from-thereforming of a virgin heavy n'aphtha over a cobalt molybdenumcatalyst in"the 'presen'cepf" hydrogen-.- This hydroformate hasan'ASTM 'end point of about-385 and contains benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene as the aromatic hydrocarbon constituents. Substantially no olefinic hydrocarbons are present in this feed.

Feed from source 11 is passed through line 12 through heat exchanger 13 wherein the temperature is raised by indirect contact with hot rafiinate phase. Fromexchanger 13 the feed is passed by way of line 14 through heat exchanger 16, line 17 and manifold 18a, 18b, 180 into extractor 19. In heat exchanger 16 the feed is raised to about the temperature of operation of extractor 19.

In this embodiment the feed is introduced at about the vertical midpoint of extractor 19 by way of valved line 18b. However, the feed may be introduced at various points along the height of extractor 19 as illustrated by lines 18a, 18b and 180. The type of feed and operating conditions will determine the exact point of feed inlet into extractor 19.

Extractor 19 is a vertical tower equipped to provide intimate contact of two immiscible liquids of different densities. Extractor 19 may be filled with conventional tower packing such as Raschig rings, Berl saddles, spheres, or may be provided with contacting trays such as bubble trays or perforated plates.

Extractor 19 isoperated at an elevated temperature appreciably lower than the incipient decomposition temperature of the triethylene glycol solvent used herein. In this embodiment extractor l9 operated at a temperature of 275 F. Although extractor 19 may in some cases be operated with a temperature gradient over the height of the vessel, in this embodiment a substantially constant temperature is maintained throughout the vessel.

In some cases it is desirable to operate with a glycolwater solution as the selective solvent, e.g., a solution of diethylene glycol containing between about and volume percent of water. In this embodiment an essentially anhydrous triethylene glycol solvent is used.

The amount of solvent used per volume of feed is dependent upon the type of feed, the type of glycol and operating conditions in extractor 19. In general the amount of solvent used may be between about 1 and 25 volumes per volume of feed, preferably between about 5 and volumes. In this embodiment 8 volumes of triethylene glycol are used per volume of feed. Glycol solvent from source 21 is passed through valved line 22 and line 23 to heat exchanger 24. In heat exchanger 24 the temperature of the solvent stream is raised to the operating temperature of the extractor and the hot glycol is passed by way of line 25 into extractor 19 at a point near the upper end of said extractor.

In order to improve the selectivity of extraction a reflux stream of aromatic hydrocarbons is introduced near the bottom of extractor 19 by way of valved line 27, heat exchanger 28 and line 29. The aromatic hydrocarbons used as reflux have the same composition as the aromatic hydrocarbon product. The amount of reflux used will vary with the degree of selectivity desired on a particular piece of equipment. In general it will be between about 2 and 10 volumes per volume of aromatic hydrocarbon extracted from the feed, i.e., product aromatic hydrocarbon; herein the ratio of reflux to product is 6:1.

Although the selectivity of the glycol solvent is very good, some non-aromatic hydrocarbons are extracted from the feed. These non-aromatic hydrocarbons boil in the range of the aromatic hydrocarbons and cannot be separated by fractional distillation. border to improve the purity of the aromatic hydrocarbon product, it is de sirable to remove these close boiling non-aromatic hydro-- carbons. This is accomplished in this embodiment by introducing a wash oil into extractor 19 just above the extract phase outlet. The wash oil should be a hydrocarbon that is easily separable from the product aromatic hydrocarbons by distillation. In this embodiment pentane is used as the wash oil. Pentane is introduced into extractor I 19 by way of line 32, heat exchanger 33 and line 34.

Makeup, or fresh, pentane may be introduced from source 36 into line 32 by way of valvm'l line 37.. In. this embodiment the amount of pentane introduced into extractor 19 is about 1 volume per volume of aromatic hydrocarbon product. Of course this amount will vary in accordance with the requirements of any particular operation.

A raflinate phase consisting of substantially dearomatized feed naphtha and some occluded and dissolved solvent is withdrawn from the top of extractor 19 by way of line 38. This hot rafiinate phase is passed through heat exchanger 13 where it raises the temperature of fresh feed, thereby saving heat. The cooled raifinate phase is passed from heat exchanger 13 into line 39. From line 39 the cooled raflinate phase is passed into coalescer 40. Coalescer 40 is a vertical vessel provided with coalescing medium such as fibre glass or steel wool; coalescer 40 may, in some instances, be an ordinary separator for two miscible liquids. The separated liquid glycol is withdrawn from the bottom of coalescer 40 and'is recycled to extractor 19 by way of line 41, and other lines not shown. The rafiinate hydrocarbons which contain a slight amount of dissolved glycol solvent are withdrawn from coalescer 40 by way of line 42.

Liquid water from source 43 is introduced by way of line 44 into line 42. The stream of raffinate hydrocarbons and Water is passed by way of line 45 into mixer 46. The water-raflinate phase stream is intimately agitated in mixer 46 for a time suflicient for the water to dissolve the solvent present in the raiflnate phase. The amount of water used must be at least enough to form a separate aqueous phase and to dissolve the glycol. In this illustration about 5 volumes percent of water based on raflinate phase is used. A countercurrent tower may be used to contact the water and raffinate phase and thereby lessen the water usage.

The contents of mixer 46 are passed by way of line 47 into separator 48. In separator 48 the aqueous phase of water and solvent is separated from the rafi'inate hydrocarbons and is withdrawn by way of line 51. Raffinate hydrocarbons are withdrawn from separator 48 by way of line 52 and are passed to storage not shown.

Extract phase is withdrawn from the bottom of extractor 19 by way of line 53 and is passed into about the vertical mid-point of extract stripper 54. Extract stripper 54 is a distillation tower provided with fractionator means and with internal reboiler 55. At a lower point, below the point of extract phase entry, stripper 54 is provided with distributor means 56. Steam from source 57 is passed by way of line 58 into distributor means 56. It is to be understood that extract stripper may be operated in difierent ways, depending on the particular extract phase which is introduced therein. In some instances, it may not be necessary to operate under either vacuum or steam stripping conditions. With this particular extract phase it is preferred to use steam stripping to lower the bottoms temperature in the extract stripper to a point well below the incipient decomposition temperature of the triethylene glycol, which temperature is 404 F.

At an upper point, stripper 54 is provided with a distributor means 59, which distributor is positioned at a point above the point of extract phase entry into the tower and near the vapor exit end of tower 54. A liquid aqueous stream is introduced by way of valved line 61 to distributor 59 and thence into stripper 54. This liquid aqueous stream may be ordinary water. Herein, water is understood to mean the ordinary quality water which is available for industrial use or for drinking purposes. This water may be from streams, lakes, wells or the by-product of other operations. This water should not contain materials which would interfere with the separation or which may react with either the glycol or the extract hydrocarbons or seriously corrode the materials of which the extract stripper is constructed. Also, the aqueous liquid may consist of a solution of the particular glycol solvent in water. is present in only a minor amount, for example, the

Particularly where the glycol aqueous liquidmay. be the glycol-water solution recovei'ed from the water washing of therafiinate phase. Norvaporthat is a mixture ofextract hydrocarbon vapor and glycol'solvent-vapor. In the absence of the liquid aqueous. stream from distributor 59, this mixture of vaporswould pass outof extract stripper 54. The amount of aqueous liquid introducedinto. the upper portion of stripper 54 must-be at-least enough toremove essentially all of theglycol-present in the vapors-passing up the stripper above.

the point of extract phase entry. In-general, the amount of aqueousiliqiiid introduced into thedistillative recovery zone is between about 5 and 200 volume percent, based on extract hydrocarbon in the extract phase. More than thisaniount. may. bein. some instances, necessary, or may be introduced into the distillation zone for other reasons. In. any. case, the? amount. of aqueous liquid introduced shouldanot be in. such an excess. that it would interfere with the .distillativeseparation of the extract hydrocarbonsandIthe-lglycol solvent. When operating with an extract phase consisting essentially of polyethylene glycol, suchasdiethyleneglycol or triethylene glycol, and naphtha boiling range aromatic hydrocarbons, it is preferred to use} between 'about and 100.volume percent of aqueous liquid based on extract hydrocarbons.

Ingthisembodiment, the. aqueous phasefrom separator 48 is passed by way of line 51 and line 61.into separator 59;; By.,-.this;means, theglycolrs'olvent. present in this aqueous stream is cheaply and conveniently recovered,

thereby eliminating a separate distillation operation.

A liquid bottoms product of glycol solvent is withdrawn from-thebottom.of-stripper :54 by Way. of line 62. Normally,- this stream is recycled to extractor 19 by wayof. When desired, this stream may be.

valved line 23, etc. withdrawn from the. system by way of valved line 63.,

A vapor stream is withdrawn overhead from, extract stripper54 and ispassed by wayof line 64 into heat exhia y fiiwhs e n' h l p are d ns The l q id.- stream is passed by way of line into separator 67. The,

water introduced into stripper 54 either through the steam qrfi iie e; uequs q d d stributo Passes overhead with. .the.extracthydrocarbonsand is separated by gravity in separator 67. The liquid water is withdrawn by way bf -line -68-and--a portion thereof is passed into extr'act. stripper 54 by way-of-line 61 and distributor 59-. Excesslwate'r.ispassedtothe sewer byway of valved line.69.

The extract hydrocarbonslare withdrawnfrom. separator 67.- -;and ;are passed byway of linel70 into the vertical mid.- point of tractionatgrjl. This fractionator is provided it a sa hsatsx han arfi n fr c ion equip.- mentnot shown. Overhead from fractionator 71 a vapor stream consisting essentially of pentane is withdrawn by way of line 74. This stream is condensed in a heat exchanger not shown and may be recycled to extractor 19 by way of valved line 32, etc. When desired the pentane may be passed out of the system by way of valved line 76. The product aromatic hydrocarbons which are essentially free of non-aromatic hydrocarbons are withdrawn as a bottoms product from fractionator 71 by way of line 77. The necessary amount of reflux aromatic hydrocarbons is passed by way of lines 27 and 29 into extractor 19. The excess which forms the final product is Withdrawn from the system by way of valved line 78.

The operation of the glycol solvent recovery procedure of this invention is set out by the following working examples. These examples are illustrative and are not to be considered as limiting the scope of the invention.

Example 1 In these examples the extract phase was obtained by contacting a catalytically'; cracked "naphtha; with} either diethylene glycol or triethylene glycol in a- York-Scheibel extractioncolumn at a-temperature ofabout 300 'F. under-conditionstoproduce-anextractphaseconsistingof= solvent and extract hydrocarbons wherein'aromatic hydrocarbons were the predominantcomponent.

The extractphase was separated into an extract hydrocarbon product and solvent by means of a steam dis'tillation operation; The fractionator consistedgofan 8 inch I.D column containing 12 feetof one-half inch Berl sad dles. At the bottom of'the fractionation section, an in-- ternal;coiltypereboileriwas proveded to supply the major heat requirementsbfjthe operation. Entrypoints were; prqvidedatlvarious points along the. fractionation section. j At apoint just above the top of-the packed section, a dis-- tributor was provided forthe introduction of liquid'water nte ha nq a e ust elo he p int r. i A condenser was provided which 'condensedthe vapors, leaving the vapor exit ofithe fractionator. The condensedq lidsasa r as pass dr gravity settler h h p rmitted separation ofthe water from the extract hydro.- carbone... 'Ihe' required amount ofwater, for use in the; fractionator was recycledfrom the separator by means of a pump, .The water phases werev tested to determine the preseneepfglycol therein.

Test L The extract phase charged in this test con; sisted of, on a gallons per hour basis, 14.3 parts of triethylene glycol and 4.8 partsof 'extract. These extract hydrocarbons .:were.derived from; a catalytically cracked naphthahavingan-ASTM.end-point of 400 F. The ex tractphaselwaseharged ,to the -fractionation section at; a, point 2 -5 feetbel owcthe top of'the packedsection and at; a .ternperatureof 300 ,F. Stripping steam was added-to? the tower ata pointjust. above the ,reboiler; coils at a rate; of pounds, per-;hour. (equivalent; to.-10.8--gallons=-pQr;

hour). The. solvent in the bottom of the distillativeqre cqvery;zone; was. maintained at 340 F. Liquid water-at,- a rate of 2.1 gallons per hour was introduced into the dis- 1. tillation, zoneat a point: above the packed sectionv and below,thepointof-vaponexit. This liquid;water.was in-. troduced at .a temperature of- 70- F.; the. temperature of the exit vapors beyondthe distillation zone was 220:Fs The vapors were condensed in a water cooler. condenser:

, to a temperature of 70 F. to produce a stream, on a gals;

lonsperhour basis, consisting-of 12.9..parts; of water and and- 48 parts of-extract-oil.

Tests; on both the waterphase and the-extractoil phase) showed that no glycol was present. From the bottomrof the distillation zone ,triethylene glycol was removed in an. amountequal to that, introduced into the system, i.e., 14:3: gallons-per; hour. 1

Tesr;2.+Th is.test was carried outin a manneressem' tially the;,same.-; 3551112112 .of Test 1 except that the liquid watenziefll-limwas; notladded and additional :amounts of stripping steam were introduced into the system equivalent to the amount of liquid water reflux of Test 1. Both the gasoline phase and the water phase from the condensed vapors were tested and found to contain significant amounts of triethylene glycol.

Test 3.This test was carried out in a manner similar to that described for Test 2 except that a reflux steam consisting of extract oil was introduced into the column at the same point that the water stream was introduced in Test 1. The liquid water separated from the condensed vapors vtias flound to contain appreciable amounts of triethylene g yco These tests show that despite the fact that the distillation zone was operated at a temperature far below the boiling point of triethylene glycol, appreciable amounts of glycol were carried over with the hydrocarbon vapors and had to be recovered by other methods. Also, it is shown that the presence of a hydrocarbon reflux in the distillation operation does not overcome the loss of glycol in the vapor stream. Test 1 shows that the use of a liquid water stream to contact the vapor mixture removes all of the triethylene glycol from the vapors and this triethylene glycol is recovered as a bottoms product; thus, a separate secondary recovery operation is eliminated by the use of the process of this invention.

Example II Test 4.-In this example, the extract hydrocarbons were derived from a catalytically cracked naphtha having an ASTM end-point of 475 F. In order to vaporize all the extract oil, it was necessary to operate the distillative recovery zone with a bottoms temperature of 400 F. And the extract phase was introduced into the fractionation zone at a point about the vertical mid-point of the packed section. In this test, liquid water was introduced, as described inTest 1, under essentially the same conditions. The extract oil and the separated water from the distillation operation were found to be free of triethylene glycol.

Test .This test was carried out under the conditions of Test 4 except that no liquid water was introduced above the point of extract phase entry. The water phase separated from the distillation operation showed the presence of large amounts of triethylene glycol.

These tests show the utility of the process of this invention on very high end-point naphthas, under very severe distillative recovery zone operating conditions.

Example III Test 6.In this test, the extract hydrocarbons were obtained by extracting a 400 F. end-point catalytic naphtha with diethylene glycol. The distillative recovery zone was operated under conditions similar to those of Test 1. However, the bottoms temperature was lowered to prevent incipient decomposition of diethylene glycol. When operating with the introduction of liquid water at a point above the packed section of the column, the separated extract oil and water were found to be free of diethylene glycol.

Test 7.This test was carried out under conditions similar to those of Test 6 except that no liquid water was introduced into the column above the point of extract phase entry. Large amounts of diethylene glycol were found to be present in the water from the condensed vapors from the distillation Zone.

Thus having described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. The process for the recovery of aromatic hydrocarbons, which process comprises (1) contacting a liquid petroleum naphtha containing appreciable amounts of aromatic hydrocarbons, with a liquid glycol solvent under conditions to form an extract phase comprising essentially solvent, and extract hydrocarbons, wherein the aromatic content is markedly greater than the aromatic content of said naphtha, and a raftinite phase (2) separating said extract phase from said raftinate phase (3) distilling extract hydrocarbons from said extract phase under conditions wherein a mixture of extract hydrocarbon and solvent vapors are contacted by a liquid aqueous stream consisting of water and not more than a minor amount of glycol in an amount at least sufiicient to remove from said vapor mixture all of the glycol vapors, (4) withdrawing a vapor mixture consisting essentially of extract hydrocarbons and steam from said distillation zone and condensing said vapors to produce a liquid mixture comprising water and extract hydorcarbons, (5 separating the liquid mixture into a water phase and an extract hydrocarbon phase free of glycol and (6) recycling the glycol bottoms product from said distillation zone to the contacting zone of step (1).

2. The process of claim 1 wherein said solvent is a polyethylene glycol.

3. The process of claim 1 wherein said liquid aqueous. stream consists of water and a minor amount of polyethylene glycol.

4. The process of claim 1 wherein said liquid aqueous stream is introduced in an amount between about 10 volume percent and l00.volume percent based on extract hydrocarbons present in said extract phase charged to step (3).

5. The process of claim 1 wherein said distillation step is carried out in the presence of steam which is introduced at a point below the point of entry of said extract phase.

6. The process of claim 1 wherein said solvent is diethylene glycol.

7. The process of claim 1 wherein said solvent is triethylene glycol.

8. The process of claim 1 wherein said solvent is tetraethylene glycol.

9. The process of claim 1 wherein said feed comprises essentially a mixture of paraffinic, naphthenic, olefinic and aromatic hydrocarbons.

10. The process of claim 1 wherein said feed is a petroleum naphtha.

11. The process of claim 1 wherein said feed is a naphtha deriverd from the catalytic reforming of naphtha in the presence of hydrogen.

References. Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,396,301 Cummings et al Mar. 12, 1946 2,407,820 Durrum Sept. 17, 1946 2,444,582 Smith July 6, 1948 2,635,992 Carlson et al Apr. 21, 1953 2,638,440 Drout et a1 May 12, 1953 2,669,541 catterall Feb. 16, 1954 2,766,300 Weedman Oct. 9, 1956 2,792,332 Hutchings May 14, 1957 

1. THE PROCESS FOR THE RECOVERY OF AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS, WHICH PROCESS COMPRISES(1)CONTACTING A LIQUID PETROLEUM NAPHTHA CONTAINING APPRECIABLE AMOUNTS OF AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS, WITH A LIQUID GLYCOL SOLVENT UNDER CONDITIONS TO FORM AN EXTRACT PHASE COMPRISING ESSENTIALLY SOLVENT, AND EXTRACT HYDROCARBONS, WHEREIN THE AROMATIC CONTENT IS MARKEDLY GREATER THAN THE AROMATIC CONTENT OF SAID NAPHTHA, AND A RAFFINATE PHASE(2) SEPARATING SAID EXTRACT PHASE FROM SAID RAFFINATE PHASE(3) DISTILLING EXTRACT HYDROCARBONS FROM SAID EXTRACT PHASE UNDER CONDITIONS WHEREIN A MIXTURE OF EXTRACT HYDROCARBON AND SOLVENT VAPORS ARE CONTACTED BY A LIQUID AQUEOUS STREAM CONSISTING OF WATER AND NOT MORE THAN A MINOR AMOUNT OF GLYCOL IS AN AMOUNT AT LEAST SUFFICIENT TO REMOVE FROM 